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michael sharpe

In an interview on “The Ralphie Radio Show”, 20 year-old Michael Sharpe says Kid Cudi reached out to him and apologized for punching the college student at a show over two months ago in Vancouver.

The original incident stemmed from a concert on December 11 of last year in Canada. Cudi played two events that night – as main support for Lady GaGa’s Monster Ball Tour and a solo set at another venue. At the second performance, a fan threw a wallet on stage, at the emcee. Cudder sent the wallet back in to the crowd. Moments later, footage on YouTube shows Sharpe toss the wallet back on stage. He caught the pass from Cudi, felt back keeping the wallet, and gave it back. Immediately after, Cudi removed his in-ear monitors, hopped off the stage, and punched Sharpe in the face.

Last week, Sharpe was back in school from his home in the Philippines and studying in the library. Suddenly his phone rang; the number unknown. He picked up, only to find on the other end Kid Cudi’s manager. The person told Sharpe that within five minutes, Cudi himself would be calling. An hour passed, nothing.

Then, as Sharpe walked back from the library, his phone rang – a New York area number showed up on the caller ID.

“I’m just going insane, because I knew right off the bat it was Cudi,” Sharpe reminisced, calling in to “The RRS” from Vancouver after a late night of studying. “(Cudi) was just like, ‘What’s up? You’re a hard guy to get ahold of!’”—Download the mp3

—Truth be told – Sharpe waited, patiently, for a call from Cudi for over two months. The college student decided that he never wanted to be “that guy” and press charges, or try to gain extra fame and publicity from the incident. He simply wanted people to know the truth, and for Cuddder to apologize.

“We spoke for like, 20 minutes,” continued Sharpe. “Like, straight up, a conversation I’d have with one of my friends. He was just really cool.”

Before the phone chat finished, Cudi extended more than just an apology to the 20 year-old.

“He was like, ‘Oh, is it okay if I fly you off to New York one of these days?’” Sharpe recalled, excited and stunned even as he retold the story. “’Yeah, you know, I gotta get back at you. You were all cool about the situation… I gotta fly you out.’”

Sharpe told me talking to Cudi on the phone was big enough – the pending trip is surreal to him. The emcee is currently in Australia and working on his second LP, but hopes to finally meet Sharpe soon after.

And yes, Cudi’s departure from GaGa’s tour, a story first reported on “The RRS”, did come up during their conversation. Sharpe would not divulge what was said – simply stating that the Cleveland-born artist did mention that the combination of a new album, his solo dates, and GaGa’s tour took its toll from a stress standpoint.

Michael Sharpe, the 19 year-old college student who says he received a haymaker from one of his favorite emcee’s, Kid Cudi, now says he still hasn’t received an apology.

Sharpe checked in from the Phillipines, where he’s home on winter break. Just five days ago, the college student thought he did the right thing by tossing a wallet that wasn’t his back on to Kid Cudi’s stage. Cudder took the gesture as an insult – video that surfaced online shows the rapper remove his ear monitors, jump off stage, and land a hard punch to the face of a fan, allegedly Sharpe. But after our 10 minute conversation Thursday, it seems that the fan’s feelings are hurt far more than his face.

“Being home now, and talking about it with my family… it’s different,” Sharpe revealed in relation to his feelings on the incident. “Definitely, if he would have hurt me seriously, I’d be much more upset. I didn’t really think about that though until I came home.”

Sharpe also said he has been in touch with a man claiming to be Cudi’s manager. The person kept insisting that an apology would be forthcoming, however that seems less likely as the days pass.

“How busy can he be, that he can’t call me and apologize?” asked Sharpe. “If you punched someone at a bar, and you were sorry, wouldn’t you make it a point to call and apologize? I’m not even looking for anything, other than just an apology. I’m just a fan.”

It was in that vein that Sharpe sent his latest and thus far, last series of text messages to the rapper’s alleged manager. After hearing news that Kid Cudi would no longer be on tour with Lady GaGa, a story first reported by The RRS, Sharpe reached out to make sure everything was cool. The “manager” retorted with a defensive, press release-like statement, noting that Cudi pulled himself off the tour, and was not asked to leave.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” recalled Sharpe. “Like, is he trying to make a statement through me? That was it for me.”

Okay, before I get in to the story, let’s post this:That is a screen shot of my blog earlier today with the story that I initially broke in regards to Kid Cudi. If you read the screen shot, you know the details of the story. A source at Interscope Records confirmed to me that Kid Cudi was no longer on Lady GaGa’s tour. They did not specify whether Cudi left or was asked to leave, but according to my source, this incident in Vancouver may have played a role.

The story posted to the blog at 2:25PM EST on December 16, 2009.

I posted the article and immediately distributed the link via e-mail, Facebook, & Twitter. It wasn’t long before both MTV and TMZ got wind. Next thing, Interscope received calls. Next thing, I received a call, and was asked to take it down. I was told that some type of official statement was forthcoming.

Please keep in mind, I did nothing wrong – I was never asked not to talk about the information I received, and all parties involved were aware that I was a radio show host. Nonetheless, I obliged. Essentially, I accomplished my mission: to break the story first.

When you report on a story, you have to put all personal feelings aside. Interscope Records has always, always treated me well. Interview with Lady GaGa, New Kids On The Block, Keri Hilson, Ryan Tedder… I could go on… all not possible without some level of cooperation from Interscope.

That being said, I value my relationship with the label a great deal, and therefore took the link down. It’s now back up in a different form – because clearly the story is out there, so whether it’s up on my blog is neither here nor there at this point. Kid Cudi released a statement. The storyline has come to a close.

Why repost? My good friends at TMZ linked to The RRS blog. I’m saving that story for a different post. Long story short, I didn’t want TMZ to look out of place for linking to my blog, considering the story was missing from it when the link was put up.

Tomorrow on The RRS… we’ll speak with Michael Sharpe, the student who was punched, and get his reaction to the incident.

Days after allegedly being on the receiving end of a haymaker from Kid Cudi during a show in Vancouver, 19 year-old Michael Sharpe called The RRS to explain why he won’t press charges, and how Cudi’s people may in fact be reaching out to him…Video of the incident is below: